Chair



Aug, i9, 1947. w. E. JANSSEN CHAIR Filed April 24, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug, a9, i947.

W. E. JANSSEN CHAIR Filed April 24, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HT T ORNE Y Patented Aug. 19, 1947 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE CHAIR Webster E. Janssen, Bronxville, N. Y.

Application April 24, 1943, Serial No. 484,369

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in chairs and more particularly to new and useful chair construction adapted for both rocking and variably positionably easy or lounge chair uses.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part hereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned by practice with the invention, the same being realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations pointed out in` the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, constructions, arrangements, combinations and improvements herein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein andr constituting a part hereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention, and together with the description, serve,to explain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective'view of a chair embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section of the chair shown in Fig. l illustrating the rocking action thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section of a modified form of invention;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of another modification, the seat portion being shown in section; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of yet another modification.

Objects of the invention are to provide a chair construction which may be used either for rocking action or for various positioning of the back and seat of a lounge chair, or for both such uses; to provide such a chair in which the principles utilized in the rocking and positioning movements are wholly novel and utilizable for either or both purposes; to provide a chair which can be made in the main of separable parts and of inexpensive, readily obtainable and non-critical materials in time of war, particularly of molded plywood or equivalent laminated molded product, although the chair may also and for some purposes preferably will be made of metal, untreated wood or other suitable material; and to provide such a chair in which the relatively few parts thereof may be readily assembled and disassembled and which in their disassembled condition 2, can be nested or otherwise interpositioned so as to occupy the minimum space for purposes of shipment and stQragf Broadly described my novel chair' comprises one or more arcuate' supports, the curved arches of which form both the legs and the arms of the chair, and a person-supporting member compris'.- ing the seat and back, in which the seat,V either flat or curved, is bridged across the arcuate member or members and hasV supporting contact therewith at spaced apart points on the seat so that the seat may -be rocked or angularly adjusted about the arcuate member by movement Yof the spaced supporting points to and fro along. the argniate surface or surfaces. Preferably the per'- son-supporting member is formed of a single integral' piece of material, although the invention is not necessarily sov limited.

In the preferred form of the invention the arc or arch of the arcuate supporting members is upwardly convex, thereby extending above the level of the seat and preferably through openings therein. However, the invention is not limited to suon construction, as the supporting arch may be downwardly concave in which case a substantial portion of the seat lies above same. An important aspect of the invention resides in the inherent simplicity of the parts and their construction-moreover, the fittings and dimensions of said parts are not closely critical, Thus the invention lends itself for embodiment in various forms of material such as plywood, metal, plas.- tio, ordinary wood, or any combination of such materials. Moreover, the inherent simplicity of thev construction and design makes possible a number of decorative embellishments and effects so that chairs of radically different appearance can be made by utilizing the fundamental principles of the invention.

1t will be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description as well are exemplary and explanatory but are not restrictive of the invention. Referring now in detail to the present preferred ernbodiment illustrated by Way of example in the accompanying drawings, the chair shown in Fig. l consists essentially o f two simple single parts, one of which comprises the combined seat and back formed of a single sheet of molded plywood er other suitable material of which nat upstand.

ing portion I forms the back of the chair. From the lower part of the back the sheet curves downwardly and forwardly to form the arcuate seat portion 2 which is downwardly concave, as shown, in a fairly long radius arc. At the forward prtion of the seat the sheet again curves forwardly and preferably slightly downwardly at 3 to form a comfortable front edge over which the knees of the person seated in the chair may hang.

The other primary element of my novel chair construction comprises, in the form shown, two simple arches also preferably made of plywood which serve as the arcuate supports. previously referred to for the seat. Each of said arches is essentially the same in construction, being virtually semi-circular in outline but terminating in vertically-disposed end portions I0 and II which form the legs of the chair for each of the two arches. The semi-circular curved portions between the vertical legs I 6 and II are so placed with respect to the chair seat as to form the arm portions I2 and I3 of the chair. As shown in the drawings, this arrangement is effected by providing horizontal slots or openings I in the personsupporting sheet at the back near the beginning of the concavity forming the seat portion 2 thereof, these slots being of dimensions sulcient to easily permit passage therethrough of the arcuate-supporting members previously described. A similar pair of slots IB is formed near the front part of the seat portion 2 so that, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the supporting arches pass through spaced slots in the seat at either side thereof and, in the construction shown, said slots are such as to permit relatively easy movement of the seat along the two arches while supported thereon.

It is desirable for strength and rigidity of construction to provide some connection or bracing between the two arcuate supporting members and, as shown, this may be done by having a cross-member I8 connecting the two feet portions ID at the front of the chair and a similar cross-bar I9 connecting the rear feet portions I I as shown.

As will be clear from the foregoing, a rocking motion can take place by movement of the supporting seat in an arcuate swing back and forth over the supporting arches in the manner illustrated in Fig. 2. In accordance with one feature of the invention the amplitude of the rocking motion may be controlled-within limits according to the wishes of the user, For this purpose any suitable stop means may be provided both at the rear and in front of the feet of the arcuate supporting members so as to limit the rocking in both directions. A simple form of such stop means is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 wherein the arches I2 and I 3 are provided with a plurality of stop-engaging holes 2| at the front thereof and a similar set of such holes 22 at the rear. Manually adjustable stop members are designed to be moved along the arches to be set in any selected holes by the user and as shown a pivoted dog 23 is mounted on a slidable bracket 24 at the front edge of each arch, said dog having a depressable thumb piece 25 thereon. A similar dog 26 is similarly mounted on the rear part of each arch. The user can thus control the extent of the rocking motion and also the arc in which it is to take place by simply setting the pairs of dogs at any desired point as will be obvious.

It will further be obvious that by using the same means, the user can prevent any rocking motion of the chair by setting the rear dogs closev 4 enough to the front dogs so that the space between them is the same arc as that subtended by that portion of the bottom of the chair 2 between the slots I5 and I6. In his manner the chair can be made to be a non-rocking easy chair and obviously also its angle can be varied within wide limits by the user. Any other suitable form of movable dogs or stops can be provided as desired.

It will further be obvious that the chair shown in Figs. 1 and 2 can be readily assembled and disassembled by unskilled labor. To disassemble same it is necessary merely to detach the screwedclinable chair is shown. In this form the slight inherent resiliency of molded plywood, or of metal or the like, may be utilized to set the chair at any desired angle, while the weight of the person seated therein is applied to hold that angle as set. In this form of the invention the back portion I and seat portions 2 and 3 may be the same as those described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, while the supporting arches 30 are preferably formed with slightly outwardly curved feet portions 3I and 32. A plurality of horizontal notches 35 are preferably provided at the upper front portion of the arches 30 and similar notches 36 at the corresponding rear portion thereof. The seat portion 2 is slotted at 40 near the rear or back I for passage therethrough of the arches 30 and is similarly slotted at 4I near the front of the seat, the general arrangement being similar to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. However, the slots 40 and 4I are both preferably formed as substantially vertical openings in the chair seat, having relatively sharp edges, rather than as the relatively loose slots I5 and I5 which, as shown, are normal to the arc of the supports and have rounded edges.

Thus it will be seen that there is a close engagement between the slots 40 and il and the arches 33 and that the bottom edges of the front part of the slots dI are adapted to fit into the cross-notches 35 at the front, while similarly the rear edges of the rear slots 4U seat in the notches 33. Full engagement thereof is effected when weight is placed in the seat of the chair, that weight acting to depress the bottom 2 and slightly to spread apart the feet of the arches so that when a person is seated in the chair the seat and its supports are tightly and frictionally engaged. However, when there is no weight in the seat, the supporting arches contract and the slots lil and 4I spread slightly so that it is then possible to adjust the seat readily from one pair of notches to another, thus Varying the angle of incline of the seat and back of the chair.

The modication shown in Fig. 4 illustrates diagrammatically how a chair embodying the invention (which may either rock or be variably inclinable in either of the manners previously disclosed) can be formed by a downwardly concave supporting arch and also that the bottom of the chair may be liat rather than downwardly concave itself. As shown, the flat bottom member is provided with spaced slots 5I and 52 at the rfront and rear thereof, respectively. The supporting members cooperating with said slots comprise upwardly and inwardly inclined leg members 53 and 5d which are preferably arcuate as shown. Said leg members are joined by a downwardly concave arched supporting member 55' which passes through the slots 5i and 52 of the seat so that the seat subtends a substantial part of the concave arch 55. It will be obvious that in accordance with the principles previously described and the construction shown, that the seat 50 may be used as a rocker or variously inclined with respect to the arc 55 by providing suitable stops or gripping means. In this form the back member 5t ofthe chair is preferably narrower than the seat portion 50 so that the back can rise between the pairs of rear leg members 54 Without its being slotted and thus interference of the back with the motion of the seat is avoided. It will further be obvious that with any form of chair shown and described, the seat member may either be hat, downwardly concave or, if desired, can be slightly concave upwardly without essentially departing from the major principles of the invention.

Referring now to the modification shown in Fig. 5, same shows a chair constructed essentially as that of Figs. 1 and 2, the stop members 6G and 6l being diagrammatically indicated. The chair shown in Fig. l illustrates one decorative embellishment of the basic design whereby an arm portion may be provided to move with the rocking seat and back l-2 and in so doing to cooperate both decoratively and functionally with the supporting arches I2 and I3. For this purpose an arm member is attached to the back i at 65 and curves downwardly and outwardly at 65 to terminate in a re-entrant arcuate end portion El, the bottom part 68 of which may rest on or just clear the top of the arch I2. This construction provides a decorative upper arm member which may be upholstered and thus serve to hide or disguise the arch i2 below it', where that decorative effect will be desirable. It will be understood that a similar arm member will be provided on the opposite side of the chair to overlie and cooperate with the arch I3.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specic mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacricing its chief advantages.

What I claim is:

1. In a chair in combination rigid, stationary arcuate, upwardly-convexed supporting members and a seat member, said seat member having at least two spaced-apart points of contact with each of said arcuate members, said contact points being arcuately movable substantially equal distances along ascending and descending portions respectively of said arcuate members to permit rocking of the seat about the arcuate members.

2. In a rocking chair in combination an arcuate upwardly-convexed supporting member and a seat member, said seat member having at least two spaced-apart points of Contact with the arcuate member, said contact points being arcuately slidable up and down respectively along said arcuate member about substantially the same center to vary the angular relation of the seat to the arcuate member, and means for limiting the angular movement of the seat with 6 respect to said arcuate member, said supporting member being sufficiently rigid to constrain the rocking movement of the seat member to a substantially circular arc between said limiting means.

3. In a chair in combination a substantially rigid arcuate, upwardly-convexed supporting member and a seat member, said seat member having at least two spaced-apart points of contact with the arcuate member, said contact points being movable substantially circularly along said arcuate member to vary the angular relation of the seat to the arcuate member, and means for variably limiting the angular movement of the seat with respect to said arcuate member, the seat rocking freely between said limiting means under the weight of an occupant.

4. A chair including in combination a pair of stationary arches spaced from each other and having their extremities disposed to form the feet of the chair, and a seat member having spaced apart openings near the rear and front of the seat through which said arches pass, said openings being on either side of the top of said arches, the seat being angularly movable along the arches by means of the travel of said openings along the curvature of said arches.

5. In a chair a pair of supports comprising upwardly convex arches, the extremities of which form the feet of the chair and the apex portions thereof the arms, and a downwardly convex seat apertured at the rear for the parallel passage therethrough of said arches and similarly apertured at the front whereby the apex portions of the arches lie above the concavity of the seat to form arms of the chair, said apertures in the seat member being shaped to permit sliding movement of the seat along the surfaces of the arches.

6. In a chair a pair of supports comprising upwardly convex arches, the extremities 0f which form the feet of the chair and the apex portions thereof the arms, and a seat apertured at the rear for the parallel passage therethrough of said arches and similarly apertured at the front whereby the apex portions of the arches lie above the seat to form arms of the chair, said apertures in the seat member being shaped to permit sliding movement of the seat along the surfaces of the arches, the front apertures rising while the rear apertures fall during such sliding movement and vice versa.

7. In a chair a pair of supports comprising downwardly convex, stationary arches, and a seat apertured at the front and at the rear for the parallel passage therethrough of said arches whereby the apex portions of the arches lie below the seat, said apertures in the seat member being shaped to permit sliding movement of the seat along the surfaces of the arches.

8. In a chair a pair of supports comprising upwardly convex arches, the extremities of which form the feet of the chair and the apex portions thereof the arms, and a downwardly convex seat of slightly resilient material apertured at the rear for the parallel passage therethrough of said arches and similarly apertured at the front whereby the apex portions of the arches lie above the concavity of the seat to form arms of the chair, said apertures in the seat member being large enough to permit sliding movement of the seat along the surfaces of the arches when the seat is unoccupied, but small enough to effect gripping contact between the apertures and the surfaces of the arches, when said seat undergoes deformation by weight of an occupant.

WEBSTER E. JANSSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Cole Mar. 10, 1874 Springsteen July 7, 1891 Preston Sept. 15, 1885 Wagner Oct. 22, 1940 Hall Sept. 25, 1866 y' Number Number 

